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You're not going to want to hear this but...you need to go cold turkey. No more diapers! It's very messy for about a week but then it's over. I had a 3 1/2 yr old that didn't want rewards. I was tired of waiting until "he's ready". I don't think he'd ever had been ready if I didn't go cold turkey! Good luck!!

cold turkey works too w/my girl...i had her pick out her choice of 'big-girl' underwr,she came home,all excited,put it on !!....wala..within 1st hr,she pee-pee in her underwr,got all upset,did not like the wet feeling...i immediately use this chance & led her to potty chair & sat her down & read to her while she tries again....hit or miss all depends...but never scold them,when they try,just praise them for trying & encourage them to go again next 2-3 hrs....i even made it fun by racing her to the potty,mommy go first....she followed watch me,have her try...sometimes she says no! i go ok! we'll try later.(like in 10-15 min.close to her schedule time)

they'll get there when ready,its letting them know how to 'feel' potty coming-(go by their schedule),when is it he usually wets his diaper,every 2-3 hrs ??,use this opportunity to go potty by having him squirt some bubble bath,then have him 'AIM' at globs of bu-bth to make bubbles,u will see then grin frm ear-to-ear w/excitement when they made it.

try explain to him that this will only work if he 'aims' at the potty -will not work in diapers?,make it fun ??...make it silly ? 2-3 yr olds they love it.

My son was a problem for me too, so I made up the Diaper Fairy! When he went to bed one night, I took all of his diapers and hid them. I wrapped up big boy undies and pull ups, and bought some treats that he doesn't usually get and had them all ready when he woke up. I told him that the Diaper Fairy had been to our house and taken his diapers... He was now going to have to use the potty like a big boy and had no choice cause his diapers were gone! He thought it was super cool, and only had to use the pull ups at night for a week! Worked really well for us, hope it gives you some ideas.

The best thing I ever did was buy my son a toddler urinal (if you google it, it will come up-I forget who makes it)...He loved to pee standing up...and sometimes even encouraged him to pee outside in the bushes for this reason...he became quite confident that the rest quickly followed...he just turned 2 1/2 and he has been trained for about 3 months...

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View replies by

Vickie - posted on 08/06/2011

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My son didn't respond to sticker charts cause there wasn't a reward in it. So I bought a small toy car with a large label on it. Each time he did a wee, he got a sticker to put on the package. When he got 5 stickers, he got the car. For poos he gets chocolates. They're much rarer.

I trained mine to sit down, that way they didn't have issues with standing and peeing all over the place. I also used an calender that I made up and they put a star for a pee and heart for a poo on it themselves and they got to see how many times they went on the potty or toilet with out an accident. My boys are now 8/7 and they still sit to pee love the no pee on the floor. Hope that helps.

We got a Bear in the Big Blue House potty video that my son just loved. There's also a toilet training book for the "What to Expect" authors that was great, both helped a lot. What really worked was the Royal Throne Potty from Playschool. When a beam of light is broken the potty makes a dah dah dah daa sound. My son loved it and couldn't wait to pee in the potty.

The best thing I ever did was buy my son a toddler urinal (if you google it, it will come up-I forget who makes it)...He loved to pee standing up...and sometimes even encouraged him to pee outside in the bushes for this reason...he became quite confident that the rest quickly followed...he just turned 2 1/2 and he has been trained for about 3 months...

If he is staying dry most of the time at night, you might try putting Cheerios in the toilet and letting him sink them. Also, my grandson did better when he picked out his own "big boy" underwear and only wore pull ups at night.

Mine is almost 4 (boy) and he will go potty, but he will not wear underwear. He doesn't like them. So we put a pull up on him and then he goes pee in them. He will go potty before bathtime and at school, but refuses when asked. he is VERY strongwilled. Any tips on the underwear? I did slide them on with his pants and put on top of his diaper. When he found out he FREAKED!!!

If you have two toilets, I found by putting a ping pong ball in one and sayin that was their special toilet helped. As my two sons aimed for the ball every time and thought they were important having their own toilet.

Hi- my son just turned 4 and he was fully potty trained (except at night) when he was 3 yrs 2 months. It took me 6 months to train him. Remember that ALL children are different and they will learn on their schedule. Just keep at it, try not to get frustrated and eventually it will happen!

I was petrified when I realized that I need to potty train my son, after I had such success with my daughter. I mean, I'm a woman, what do we know about standing and all that goes along with it. Then I got some great advise and soon, my son was potty trained. The advise: Let him practice in the garden. If there's spills, it won't matter. Ask him if he would be so kind as to water your plants. At first my son had 'stage fright' and would run back and forth between the garden and the toilet, but eventually he could not keep it in anymore and went in the garden. That broke the ice. He's 4 now and I've never looked back. This only applies to the peepee, the rest will follow. Good luck!!!

I have three boy and they are well beyond potty trainning but it was much easier than my girls! We used to go camping and they thought it was just the neatest thing to water a tree. That mite help you when the weather is warmer. But as far as inside the house I made a game out of it even though it seemed silly I threw a small handful of cherrios in the toliet and told them to shoot em! They had a blast with this but in the end our potty training was over and they were rewarded by picking out their own big boy underware! An don't forget to praise him! Hope it helps and good luck!

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I let my kids run around without out pants on at home. They always seem to wet their pants, but they htave no problem going to bathroom on the potty when they don't have to worry about their pants. Boys are busy, they don't like to take the time out to go to the bathroom so you have to make it as easy as possible for them!!

I have 2 boys and what works wonders is the cheerio game. (you can use froot loops too) but toss a couple in the potty and if they can make the cheerios move by hitting them with their pee they earn points (after a bout 2-3 times) they can pick a small prize or choose a game that you play together. That has taken care of the standing up pee thing..as for the other..it depends on your childs ability to 'let go' for lack of a better phrase, some kids are just afraid. But they will eventually go on the potty....Hope the cheerio thing helps.

I have 2 boys and what works wonders is the cheerio game. (you can use froot loops too) but toss a couple in the potty and if they can make the cheerios move by hitting them with their pee they earn points (after a bout 2-3 times) they can pick a small prize or choose a game that you play together. That has taken care of the standing up pee thing..as for the other..it depends on your childs ability to 'let go' for lack of a better phrase, some kids are just afraid. But they will eventually go on the potty....Hope the cheerio thing helps.

This may sound dumb But I made a game out of it I would put cherios int he toilette and tell my son to aim in the middle or lmao come on baby were going to the shooting range than i would put floating little ducks in the toilette and tell him to shoot them than of course after wards I would get my gloves out and get the ducks out and use them again next time my son through out the whole potty traing maybe had a hand full of accidents and never ever we the bed so yeah there ya go -good luck-

I havent read any of the other replys however, what i did was make it fun. I put fruit loops in the potty and taught him his colours at the same time and made him try and aim for each colour. After a week or so it was just natural for him to go to the potty. Mind you he was short so I had to use a stool. But the same can be done with a childs potty. Hope this helps!!

My 3½ yr old has just started to go to the toilet. What we found helps is to let them go with no pants on (around the house/backyard). They think its fun to "pee" on the grass and eventually he started to go to the toilet for "ones" and "twos". In the process, our 2½ yr old has also started to go to the toilet so now they only wear nappies to bed of a night time. Good Luck :)

I tried with my daughters when they were twoish and it just didn't work. All of them weren't potty trained until they were 3, so he just may need more time. On the other hand, my grandson was potty trained at 1 1/2. But my daughter in law isn't nearly as busy as I was. I couldn't stay home near a potty all the time because I had two older step sons involved in all kinds of sports and stuff. You don't mention if you have any older kids or not, but if you don't, just plan on taking a week and doing almost nothing else but potty training. Put underwear on the kid and take him to the potty every half hour. When he has an accident, don't make a big deal about him making a mistake, but do make a big deal about how bad it feels against his bottom and how stinky it is and wouldn't it be nice to just put the stuff in the potty and flush it bye bye. Course, this won't work very well if you have older children that need to go places so you can't stay near a potty.

Also, some children are afraid of the toilet...the sound it makes when it flushes....the big hole that they might fall into. You don't mention if you have a child sized potty or not, but maybe start with something less intimidating.

Bottom line...he may not be ready. Just because one kid does it at 1 doesn't mean there's anything wrong with a child who does it at 3. If you have problems beyond 3 then you might have to get tough with him after checking with your pediatrician, of course, to make sure that it's not something physical.

boys-boys-boys!!!!! I had a very hard time as well but I kept and container of fruit loops and cheerios in the bathroom and when my son had to go pee or I thought it was time, I would let him grab 1 or 2 and put them in the bowl to pee on. Sink them I would tell him and he had a blast!!! I also made him a potty-sticker chart. He was able to put a sticker on the chart after every "flush". He really enjoyed picking out the stickers himself. Most doller stores have a good selection so it is cheap as well. Hope this helps.

I agree on going cold-turkey. I just went through this with my (almost) 4 year old. I was so tired of buying those expensive pull-ups. Two weeks ago, I told him that it was time to be a big boy if he wanted to go to preschool in the fall. (This was a BIG thing for him because he wants to be just like his sister who is in Kindergarten this year)

I told him "Lets just do this! No more diapers, ok?". That day when we got home from church, he came and handed me his pull-up and asked for big boy underwear. And we've never looked back. Seriously.....

No #1 accidents and only one #2 accident. I have been SOOOOO proud of him. I guess the nice side to it all has been not having to spend all that money on diapers/pull-ups.

I didn't think this day would EVER come. But here it finally is....Praise God!

when my son turned three, i had to get him trained for preschool. he wasn't interested, but i made it my mission. we went a picked out underwear that he liked and wanted to wear. i spent alot of prep time have daddy, grandpa, grandad and any other male i knew talking about how awesome it was to go in the potty. the first hours of our start day were awful, he kept wetting himself, with no interest in the toilet at all. then i decided to let him go outside....that was the trick i needed. he thought it was so great to pee outside that he wanted to go even when he didn't need to. we have a high deck and going off of it was really a treat! when daddy was home, he'd go with him. i called everyone in the family and had them congratulate him and he was very proud. we did it this way for a couple of days with sticker rewards that he chose and then we moved to the potty. he wouldn't use the big potty, he was scared of it, but his potty chair was very inviting for him and i would go to the bathroom on the big potty while he went on his potty chair. he thought that was really cool. all this time, he was in underwear...no pull ups except at night. after he earned a certain number of stickers we went and bought a toy of his choosing and then it was time to tackle number two. we used the same process (except no going outside)! when he got his stickers, he got another toy, even bigger than the first. we had him trained in about two weeks with the exception of at night. he still wears a pull up then. it worked really great once we went outside, but it would have been a battle if we'd stayed inside, i'm sure of it. good luck!

when my son turned three, i had to get him trained for preschool. he wasn't interested, but i made it my mission. we went a picked out underwear that he liked and wanted to wear. i spent alot of prep time have daddy, grandpa, grandad and any other male i knew talking about how awesome it was to go in the potty. the first hours of our start day were awful, he kept wetting himself, with no interest in the toilet at all. then i decided to let him go outside....that was the trick i needed. he thought it was so great to pee outside that he wanted to go even when he didn't need to. we have a high deck and going off of it was really a treat! when daddy was home, he'd go with him. i called everyone in the family and had them congratulate him and he was very proud. we did it this way for a couple of days with sticker rewards that he chose and then we moved to the potty. he wouldn't use the big potty, he was scared of it, but his potty chair was very inviting for him and i would go to the bathroom on the big potty while he went on his potty chair. he thought that was really cool. all this time, he was in underwear...no pull ups except at night. after he earned a certain number of stickers we went and bought a toy of his choosing and then it was time to tackle number two. we used the same process (except no going outside)! when he got his stickers, he got another toy, even bigger than the first. we had him trained in about two weeks with the exception of at night. he still wears a pull up then. it worked really great once we went outside, but it would have been a battle if we'd stayed inside, i'm sure of it. good luck!

when my son turned three, i had to get him trained for preschool. he wasn't interested, but i made it my mission. we went a picked out underwear that he liked and wanted to wear. i spent alot of prep time have daddy, grandpa, grandad and any other male i knew talking about how awesome it was to go in the potty. the first hours of our start day were awful, he kept wetting himself, with no interest in the toilet at all. then i decided to let him go outside....that was the trick i needed. he thought it was so great to pee outside that he wanted to go even when he didn't need to. we have a high deck and going off of it was really a treat! when daddy was home, he'd go with him. i called everyone in the family and had them congratulate him and he was very proud. we did it this way for a couple of days with sticker rewards that he chose and then we moved to the potty. he wouldn't use the big potty, he was scared of it, but his potty chair was very inviting for him and i would go to the bathroom on the big potty while he went on his potty chair. he thought that was really cool. all this time, he was in underwear...no pull ups except at night. after he earned a certain number of stickers we went and bought a toy of his choosing and then it was time to tackle number two. we used the same process (except no going outside)! when he got his stickers, he got another toy, even bigger than the first. we had him trained in about two weeks with the exception of at night. he still wears a pull up then. it worked really great once we went outside, but it would have been a battle if we'd stayed inside, i'm sure of it. good luck!

I was probably one of the lucky few. My son was completely diaper free by the time he turned two. He started staying dry thru the night pretty consistently at about 18 months. After about a month of dry mornings, I started putting him on the potty, just to see if he would do anything. He HATED the potty chair and refused to stay seated, so we tried the big potty and guess what... he did it. We sloooowwwwly added extra "try it" times thru out the day. We used the pull-ups for a while, but the real break-through happened when we took him shopping and let HIM pick out his underwear. He has only had a couple of accidents. It can be pretty challenging for a mommy to potty train standing up, but as long as you stay relaxed, your child, no matter the sex, will be relaxed. A word of advice, make sure the equipment is pointing down when seated, otherwise, urine will spray from between the toilet seat and bowl and end up getting clothes, your's and his, wet.

I found that being very firm about what you plan to do will help, so he feels that you are in control. I took away all of his nappies, and bought him cotton jocks in the brands of his favourite characters (Thomas the Tank Engine and Lightning McQueen in Declan's case), and take him to the loo every 15 mins until he gets the idea. I would avoid pull-ups as they really are just nappies, and he will take a lot longer to train. try pants made with clingy material as this will make them even more uncomfortable. Nappisan gets out all kinds of stains, and if it doesn't, throw them out and get some new ones. Don't fuss over accidents. "oh, well, better luck next time!" is a good response to avoid them using accidents to gain negative attention. Praise him way over-the-top when he gets it right. As my son is very strong willed, I was careful not to make it sound like I was forcing him to do it, but I also made it plain that he was a big boy now, and big boys wear jocks. Let him pick out which pair he would like to wear that day. Help him feel like he's in control - its a scary thing to begin! Sticker charts are a fantastic idea, print one out on the computer and either stamps or stickers work really well. (one for wee, 2 for poos was my method). And give yourself and him some time. Take him every time he wants to go, even if he doesn't do anything in the loo. make sure you have LOADS of jocks, shorts, socks etc. On a funnier note, Declan is now learning to stand up and pee, and silly me didn't think there was much to it, I just suggested he try standing up now that he was tall enough to reach his willy into the toilet. He came running out later that day, pleased as punch with himself for having wee'd in the toilet standing up. As I was praising him for being such a big boy, he added with a small frown, "but the poos fell on the floor though". Trying not to laugh, I explained that he needed to sit down to do poos, there was just no way to do that standing up. My husband thought it was hilarious when I told him - especially as I had to do the clean up, because he was at work!

When my son was 3, i was little bit worried coz he's not potty trained yet. Especially that I just enrolled him for nursery school. And his school requires that the kid must be potty trained. Someone told me to bribe them with m&m's. I told my son if he poops i will give him one m&m. And guess what it worked. It took of course a week for him to really get the idea but hey it works for him. I was really happy. So maybe you can try it too.:)

Well, let me throw my two cents in and suggest letting your little guy go completely without undies or diapers, it helps if the weather's warm outside (and you can stay home). My son caught right on. Have courage, you can be assured your son won't go to his senior prom with a diaper on. Really. When mine finally "got it", he was 3 1/2. Good luck!

We went cold turkey,stayed in for week (didn't even go out new years eve!) & stuck with it.....He only turned 3 end of last year & we had tried twice before but no luck,he had no intrest whatsoever. We had the tantrums,we had the wet days where he just did it in his 'big' boy pants & giggled ;-p & eventually we had the potty!!! Then a couple of days later he was using the toilet as well! All in all it took just over 3 weeks. Still got to get the hang of his number 2's though but we're getting there. We also made him a poster board with BOB & THOMAS (his favouite characters) on & he gets a star for a wee & 2 stars for a number 2.

if you put i ping pong ball in the toilet, it makes going for a pee fun. it turns it into a game and the best part is the ball wont flush away.my boys all learnt this way and it works. hope this helps you out.xx

Training my little boy was quite easy I sat the potty by the television at first then I would sit him down like thirty minutes after he ate or drank. He had to sit there until he pee pee in the potty. After awhile he out grew the potty sit so he went to the big potty and we told him to aim for the hole. I hope this is some kind of help, but most likely your son might not be ready. Be patient.

dont force it, if it is warm enough to be naked try that, you'll have to do a little cleaning up but it will give him a real visual. try giving stickers on the potty when he goes on it as a reward. but he just might not be ready, boys take longer than girls. dont get frustrated it will come when the time is right. good luck

I remember trying to toilet train my boys and they wanted nothing to do with it. I had had enough of changing pants so I ended up letting them run around with no pants for about a week, I must admit I spent the week cleaning the floor alot but by the end of it when i put pants back on them they didnt like the feel of wet or dirty pants and started using the potty then toilet. I also had a seat with steps that went over the toilet which helped alot.

When I was toilet training my 2 boys I had to let them run around with no pants on and when I finally put pants back on them they didn't like the feeling and started using the toilet plus I also had a seat with steps that went over the toilet. It is hard and messy at first but after a week my boys started using the toilet

Post a reply! i have two boys and with mine, they HAD to be ready. both were close to 3 before 'they' decided to do it. with pj, we gave him m&m's to bribe him to go. josh just decided one weekend he was using the potty (the weekend before his 3rd birthday). the pediatrician (when i'd voiced concern) told me to take heart that you virtually NEVER see a child start kindergarden in diapers! :)

A friend of mine told me that her brother took his son out to the backyard and made a game out of it. Told him they were going to "water the plants". Dad and son did it together and eventually it was moved into the home. I was horrified hearing this, maybe cause I am a girl?? But looking at my little boy I am debating...

I was lucky with my son, he was dry during the day at the age of 2 and at night by the time he was 2 1/2. I simply placed his potty on a waterproof mat in the living room and let him walk around with nothing but a t-shirt on. He sat on it while watching his favourite childrens progamme one day and had a wee. That was if for him. Once he'd gotten used to the potty we bought him a seat for toilet that had a little ladder attached. He thought that was brilliant.

My son is 3 1/2 - and potty trained but that was after alot of patience! Just do not force the issue - all of a sudden it clicked for him. Just keep listening and his signs of having to go and then bring him to the bathroom. My son just couldn't take the time to sit down and go! We started him by doing everything sitting down, then once he got that mastered we showed him how to stand up. Now we just have to pay attention to the amount of toilet paper he sticks in the toilet! He tells us he needs his privacy which really means he has found something fun to do in the bathroom!! Good Luck!!!

Have you tried putting a ping pong ball in the toilet? I found my boys loved something to aim at and quite often laughed when it turned and skipped between the walls of the bowl. The ball does not flush. Try it and let me know how you go. Best of Luck. Kyles

my daughter just turned 4 in november.. and shes almost there. but not completely. i still make her wear overnight pull ups or diapers "just in case". but what i do is i talk to her like a normal person. not baby-talk. because then she'll think your just playing around with her. but yeah, i talked to her told her that her kindergarten teacher wont really want to change her diapers in class, and that shes a big girl now and big girls go to the washroom in the toilet. she understands and tries her best. a little motherly motivation will make your little guy understand, to his level of knowledge, that being a big boy isnt so scary. and yes. also try going cold turkey. helps a lot too. good luck!!

We took the pull ups away cold turkey (our son was 4!) and started a sticker reward chart. Every time he went in the potty he got a sticker (2 for going #2), and if he had an accident he got one taken away. After 20 stickers he got to go to Kmart and pick out a toy. This really motivated him. I also took him to the bathroom every hour. For the first couple weeks if I waited an hour and a half he'd have an accident. It took a good month for him to go #2 in the potty regularly unfortunately, but then he was completely potty trained.